Chapter 6: Thicket Village (Part 6)

The black hand’s grip was very strong. Yun Xueqing lost his balance, his strength failing him. He was about to be dragged down.

A steady pair of hands grasped his shoulders and pulled him back toward the shore.

The black hand couldn’t compete and finally released its hold. He narrowly escaped danger and turned back to see Fu Wuxuan looking relaxed, as if the earlier action had been a trivial effort.

But it only looked effortless. The bandages on his hands began to seep blood again.

Fu Wuxuan noticed his gaze and casually shook his hand, saying indifferently, “This happens every time I use an Oracle. Don’t worry about it.”

It was impossible to win a contest of strength against the Water Ghost. He had just attached an Oracle to Yun Xueqing’s body to drive it away.

“That’s twice now.”

“What?”

Yun Xueqing said earnestly, word by word, “This is the second time you’ve helped me. This is karma, and it must be repaid.”

“You’re right,” Fu Wuxuan tilted his head. “Is there a reward for accumulating ten times?”

“…”

“I’m kidding.”

Fu Wuxuan had only said it offhand and wasn’t really expecting repayment. He was about to brush it off with a laugh when he heard the other man say solemnly:

“The immortal arts of the Sword Pavilion—you can pick whatever you want to learn.”

Fu Wuxuan was stunned for a moment. He didn’t understand what the other meant and naturally had no idea of the weight those words carried.

Yun Xueqing hailed from the Sword Pavilion, an ancient sect over a thousand years old and the foremost among immortal gates, with profound immortal inheritances. The Sword Pavilion’s Scripture Pavilion held countless methods for cultivation, extending life, and ascending to immortality.

This promise from Yun Xueqing was an offer to introduce Fu Wuxuan to the Dao and teach him the arts of longevity.

Fu Wuxuan thought about Yun Xueqing’s behavior over the past few days and assumed he was having a chuunibyou episode. He brushed it off casually. “Let me think about it. Definitely next time.”

He deliberately changed the subject. “Is your arm okay?”

He pointed at Yun Xueqing’s forearm, where a black handprint remained from the Water Ghost.

The warmth from his fingertip, filtered through the somewhat rough bandages, touched the fair skin, bringing a slight itch. Yun Xueqing pulled down his sleeve to cover the exposed skin, feeling a bit uncomfortable as he said, “It doesn’t hurt. No sensation at all.”

“As long as it doesn’t hurt,” Fu Wuxuan replied absentmindedly. “But still, be careful. It might be a curse left by the Water Ghost.”

As the two went back and forth, the bald muscular man grew impatient. “Stop flirting. An hour’s passed, and you haven’t caught a single fish. I’m anxious even if you’re not!”

Fu Wuxuan sneered. “The emperor’s not worried, but the eunuch is.”

“You!” The muscular man raised his fist threateningly. Seeing that the bandaged freak showed no fear at all, he knew he was not to be trifled with and could only sheepishly lower his hand. “Fine, keep going and lure the fish.”

He looked toward Yun Xueqing.

The female student couldn’t stand it anymore. “He’s already injured. How can you make him continue?”

“He’s not injured, is he?” the muscular man said discontentedly. “You love playing the good guy so much? Then you go down.”

The female student was furious and wanted to argue further.

Wu Xue, who had been keeping a low profile, crouched down and plucked a dozen blades of grass of varying lengths, holding them in her hand as she spoke. “Draw lots. The shortest one goes.”

Everyone fell silent and obediently drew their lots.

No one questioned Wu Xue’s decision, and no one doubted she would cheat.

Not only because she was a powerful A-Rank Oracle, but also because she was from the official organization.

Even if Oracles privately questioned some decisions of the Spiritual Energy Special Control Bureau, when an official stood before them, all they felt was trust.

They followed the official leaders’ orders unconditionally.

If they couldn’t even trust the officials who represented justice and order, then in this apocalypse, who could they trust?

They were the last two hopes of the apocalypse, alongside the Divine Temple.

In the end, the one who drew the shortest blade was an unremarkable but extremely skinny middle-aged man. He resignedly rolled up his sleeves.

Wu Xue pointed at the bald muscular man. “You stand beside him. If the Water Ghost comes, drive It away with an Oracle.”

The muscular man nodded.

Sure enough, as soon as the middle-aged man put his hand in, a smiling woman’s face emerged from the water again. The Water Ghost had returned.

The middle-aged man screamed in terror and tried to pull his hand out, but it was gripped tightly.

The bald muscular man hurriedly cast an Oracle, but it had little effect.

With a sharp scream, the middle-aged man was still dragged into the water.

Man-eating Fish swarmed to the shore and gnawed voraciously.

No more sounds came from the middle-aged man, only the pond surface turning blood-red.

But the others had no time to mourn his death. They frantically cast Oracles to catch fish.

“Oracle: Hunting!”

“Oracle: Iron Claw.”

“Oracle!”

With everyone using their abilities, they managed to catch dozens of fish in total, but they were still short half the required amount.

The female student wailed, “We have to do it again?”

Wu Xue nodded, her snow-white face expressionless. “Yes, draw lots again.”

The bald muscular man said angrily, “Lady Wu Xue, you’re just going to watch that man get dragged into the pond like that?”

The muscular man’s question ignited resentment among most of the people present.

Even though they trusted the officials, after witnessing a death with Wu Xue doing nothing, they couldn’t help but grumble.

Led by the muscular man and fueled by the fear of drawing lots and death—emboldened by the knowledge that Wu Xue wouldn’t attack humans—someone couldn’t hold back their complaints:

“They said Wu Xue was cold before, and it looks like it’s true.”

“Having the ability but letting someone die—terrifying!”

Hearing the complaints around them, the muscular man smirked and turned his spear on Yun Xueqing. “And you! Don’t you have a powerful talisman? The one even the village chief fears. Why not use it to drive away the Water Ghost? You’re just hiding it!”

He spoke as if it were fact. “You’re a cultivator, aren’t you? So heartless—it’s chilling!”

The others didn’t follow his lead exactly, but they started scheming:

That talisman was so powerful. If it was used to exorcise the Water Ghost and It died, then even if they drew the short lot, they wouldn’t have to worry about dying.

So someone chimed in, “Yeah, that talisman of yours is so powerful. Use it to dispel the Water Ghost.”

“Right, kill the Water Ghost early and finish the fishing task sooner.”

With greed and anger already taking hold, the muscular man’s smile widened. He swallowed and eyed Yun Xueqing greedily, stating his true aim: “If you’re unwilling to bring it out, then you’ll have to go into the water again.”

Surrounded by the crowd, Yun Xueqing’s expression remained indifferent.

He walked up to the bald muscular man and stared at its face.

Under everyone’s eyes, he shoved the bald muscular man straight into the pond!

The bald muscular man fell into the pond, was dragged down by the Water Ghost, and the Man-eating Fish swarmed over. The water surface turned blood-red once more.

“Holy shit, murder!”

Someone screamed while still casting Oracles to catch fish.

This time, they caught enough in one go to meet the quota and complete the village chief’s task. Some began to condemn Yun Xueqing’s sin.

A red-haired young man frowned. “Even if you didn’t want to go, you can’t just kill someone outright, right?”

“Yeah, that’s really scary,” someone echoed.

“Haha.” Fu Wuxuan couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“What are you laughing at!” The red-haired young man, thinking he was being mocked, glared angrily at Fu Wuxuan.

Fu Wuxuan’s lips curved in disdain. “Idiot. Haven’t you figured out that the one just pushed in wasn’t human?”

The red-haired young man was stunned. “Huh? You mean… that bald guy was a Weird?”

Wu Xue, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke. “I picked it to help, but it was only pretending to cast an Oracle. There was no Spirit Energy fluctuation from its body.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a head emerged from the river surface—it was the bald muscular man that had fallen in.

Now It had dropped its disguise, revealing its true form: moss growing on its head, its pitch-black face bearing eyes like those of a flounder, staring fixedly in Yun Xueqing’s direction.

The red-haired young man realized he was wrong, his face turning awkward.

The female student seemed to think of something, her expression turning poor. “If it was a Weird… then at lunch, was the one eating with us human or Weird?”

Had it been swapped out on the way to the pond, or had it been a Weird accompanying them from the start?

“Maybe it was always It,” Yun Xueqing said calmly. “It saw me use a talisman.”

The red-haired young man said in shock, “Water Ghosts can come ashore and mingle with people to eat together?”

“Water Ghosts can’t come ashore on their own,” Fu Wuxuan sneered. “But if someone provides a vessel, it’s fine. It can appear anywhere there’s water.”

The red-haired young man muttered, “Who would do that on purpose, harming themselves…”

He realized as soon as he said it: there really was such a person.

“Ah, It’s coming up! Aah!” The female student suddenly pointed at the pond in terror.

Everyone looked over to see the smiling woman’s face, which had been submerged, now approaching the shore. Its withered, black, skinny hand pressed against the ground, propping up its entire body as it crawled ashore step by step.

The smiling woman’s face had no human body below the neck; instead, a long fish tail connected there, covered in dense scales layered with transparent mucus. Black hands protruded from the sides, constantly pushing, crawling toward Yun Xueqing and the others like a reptile, swiftly.

The timid ones screamed loudly. Wu Xue stood guard in front of the group with full vigilance, everyone tense—except Fu Wuxuan, whose expression was lazy as he casually plugged his ears with his fingers.

Yun Xueqing said calmly, “It has no intention of attacking us.”

As soon as he spoke, the crawling smiling woman’s face stopped before them and, in an inconceivable motion, raised its fish tail upright, standing like a human!

Even more astonishingly, the smiling woman’s face body began to change. Flesh sagged from the smiling woman’s face, the once delicate features turning rough and rugged.

The withered black hands faded to a healthy skin tone. A chest grew in the middle of the fish tail, which split into two human legs!

The smiling woman’s face had shockingly become the middle-aged man who had just been killed by the Weird!

Everyone was shocked and retreated several steps.

Fu Wuxuan watched It with interest. “The Water Ghost is also known as the Substitute Death Ghost. By dragging one person underwater as a substitute, It can transform into that person. As for the original…”

He looked down at the water surface and, sure enough, saw the “smiling woman’s face” lurking at the bottom, ready at any moment to drag someone under.

Wu Xue looked at the “middle-aged man” who had turned human and was smiling at them, frowning. “Oracle: Explosion.”

The “middle-aged man”‘s smile froze forever. Then, like a balloon overinflated, it swelled unbearably and burst, flesh and blood splattering.

With the threat resolved, Wu Xue pointed at the fish on the ground and randomly selected two people. “Take them back and turn in the task.”

The two nodded meekly, not daring to defy Wu Xue’s order.

After all, Wu Xue, who killed without a word, was truly terrifying!

The fish they caught were exactly the right amount, and the village chief was reasonably satisfied, allowing them to return to their rooms early to rest.

Perhaps because the village chief was in a good mood, dinner wasn’t anything strange—just some dry, hard biscuits. For Oracles, though, it was practically a blessing.

After Yun Xueqing and Fu Wuxuan finished dinner, they returned to their room, turned off the lights, and prepared to sleep.

Perhaps due to the great physical exertion during the day, exhaustion swept over them quickly, and drowsiness soon followed.

Yun Xueqing slept groggily when he heard the patter of water again.

Was it raining?

A faint fishy smell filled his nose, mingled with a subtle mossy scent.

He groggily opened his eyes.

Soft moonlight shone through the window, its pale glow illuminating the room.

In the dim light, Yun Xueqing could clearly see, less than a meter away, a smiling woman’s face hanging there.